ÆNEAS AND ANCHISES.
All these things, indeed, Æneas beheld, but could not bear help, being
one against many. But when the deed was done, and the old man lay
dead, he bethought him of his father Anchises, and his wife Creüsa,
and of his little son Ascanius, and how he had left them without
defence at home. But as he turned to seek them, the night being now,
by reason of many fires, as clear as the day, he espied Helen sitting
in the temple of Vesta, where she had sought sanctuary; for she feared
the men of Troy, to whom she had brought ruin and destruction, and not
less her own husband, whom she had deceived. Then was his wrath
kindled, and he spake to himself, "Shall this evil woman return safe
to Sparta? Shall she see again her home and her children, with Trojan
women forsooth to be her handmaidens? Shall Troy be burnt and King
Priam be slain, and she take no harm? Not so; for though there be no
glory to be won from such a deed, yet shall I satisfy myself, taking
vengeance upon her for my kinsmen and my countrymen." But while he
thought these things in his heart, lo! there appeared unto him Venus,
his mother, made manifest as he had never seen her before, as fair and
as tall as the dwellers in heaven behold her. Then Venus spake thus,
"What meaneth all this rage, my son? Hast thou no care for me? Hast
thou forgotten thy father Anchises, and thy wife, and thy little son?
Of a surety the fire and the sword had consumed them long since but
that I cared for them and saved them. It is not Helen; no, nor Paris,
that hath laid low this great city of Troy, but the wrath of the Gods.
See now, for I will take away the mist that covers thine eyes; see how
Neptune with his trident is overthrowing the walls and rooting up the
city from its foundations; and how Juno stands with spear and shield
in the Scæan Gate, and calls fresh hosts from the ships; and how
Pallas sits on the height with the storm-cloud about her and her
Gorgon shield; and how Father Jupiter himself stirs up the enemy
against Troy. Fly, therefore, my son. I will not leave thee till thou
shalt reach thy father's house." And as she spake she vanished in the
darkness.
[Illustration: ÆNEAS AND HELEN.]
Then did Æneas see dreadful forms and Gods who were the enemies of
Troy, and before his eyes the whole city seemed to sink down into the
fire. Even as a mountain oak upon the hills on which the woodmen ply
their axes bows its head while all its boughs shake about it, till at
last, as blow comes after blow, with a mighty groan it falls crashing
down from the height, even so the city seemed to fall. Then did Æneas
pass on his way, the goddess leading him, and the flames gave place to
him, and the javelins harmed him not.
But when he was come to his house he bethought him first of the old
man his father; but when he would have carried him to the hills,
Anchises would not, being loath to live in some strange country when
Troy had perished. "Nay," said he, "fly ye who are strong and in the
flower of your days. But as for me, if the Gods had willed that I
should live, they had saved this dwelling for me. Enough is it, yea,
and more than enough, that once I have seen this city taken, and
lived. Bid me, then, farewell as though I were dead. Death will I find
for myself. And truly I have long lingered here a useless stock and
hated of the Gods since Jupiter smote me with the blast of his
thunder."
Nor could the old man be moved from his purpose, though his son and
his son's wife, and even the child Ascanius, besought him with many
tears that he should not make yet heavier the doom that was upon them.
Then was Æneas minded to go back to the battle and die. For what hope
was left? "Thoughtest thou, my father," he cried, "that I should flee
and leave thee behind? What evil word is this that has fallen from thy
lips? If the Gods will have it that nought of Troy should be left, and
thou be minded that thou and thine should perish with the city, be it
so. The way is easy; soon will Pyrrhus be here; Pyrrhus, red with
Priam's blood; Pyrrhus, who slays the son before the face of the
father, and the father at the altar. Was it for this, kind Mother
Venus, that thou broughtest me safe through fire and sword, to see
the enemy in my home, and my father and my wife and my son lying
slaughtered together? Comrades, give me my arms, and take me back to
the battle. At the least I will die avenged."
But as he girded on his arms and would have departed from the house,
his wife Creüsa caught his feet upon the threshold, staying him, and
held out the little Ascanius, saying, "If thou goest to thy death,
take wife and child with thee; but if thou hopest aught from arms,
guard first the house where thou hast father and wife and child."
And lo! as she spake there befell a mighty marvel, for before the face
of father and mother there was seen to shine a light on the head of
the boy Ascanius, and to play upon his waving hair and glitter on his
temples. And when they feared to see this thing, and would have
stifled the flame or quenched it with water, the old man Anchises in
great joy raised his eyes to heaven, and cried aloud, "O Father
Jupiter, if prayer move thee at all, give thine aid and make this omen
sure." And even as he spake the thunder rolled on his left hand, and a
star shot through the skies, leaving a long trail of light behind,
and passed over the house-tops till it was hidden in the woods of Ida.
Then the old man lifted himself up and did obeisance to the star, and
said, "I delay no more: whithersoever ye lead I will follow. Gods of
my country, save my house and my grandson. This omen is of you. And
now, my son, I refuse not to go."
Then said Æneas, and as he spake the fire came nearer, and the light
was clearer to see, and the heat more fierce, "Climb, dear father, on
my shoulders; I will bear thee, nor grow weary with the weight. We
will be saved or perish together. The little Ascanius shall go with
me, and my wife follow behind, not over near. And ye, servants of my
house, hearken to me; ye mind how that to one who passes out of the
city there is a tomb and a temple of Ceres in a lonely place, and an
ancient cypress-tree hard by. There will we gather by divers ways. And
do thou, my father, take the holy images in thy hands, for as for me,
who have but newly come from battle, I may not touch them till I have
washed me in the running stream."
[Illustration: ÆNEAS AND THE SHADE OF CREÜSA.]
And as he spake he put a cloak of lion's skin upon his shoulders, and
the old man sat thereon. Ascanius also laid hold of his hand, and
Creüsa followed behind. So he went in much dread and trembling. For
indeed before sword and spear of the enemy he had not feared, but now
he feared for them that were with him. But when he was come nigh unto
the gates, and the journey was well-nigh finished, there befell a
grievous mischance, for there was heard a sound as of many feet
through the darkness; and the old man cried to him, "Fly, my son, fly;
they are coming. I see the flashing of shields and swords." But as
Æneas hasted to go, Creüsa his wife was severed from him. But whether
she wandered from the way or sat down in weariness, no man may say.
Only he saw her no more, nor knew her to be lost till, all his company
being met at the temple of Ceres, she only was found wanting. Very
grievous did the thing seem to him, nor did he cease to cry out in his
wrath against Gods and men. Also he bade his comrades have a care of
his father and his son, and of the household Gods, and girded him
again with arms, and so passed into the city. And first he went to the
wall, and to the gate by which he had come forth, and then to his
house, if haply she had returned thither. But there indeed the men
of Greece were come, and the fire had well-nigh mastered it. And after
that he went to the citadel and to the palace of King Priam. And lo!
in the porch of Juno's temple, Phœnix and Ulysses were keeping guard
over the spoil, even the treasure of the temples, tables of the Gods,
and solid cups of gold, and raiment, and a long array of them that had
been taken captive, children and women. But not the less did he seek
his wife through all the streets of the city, yea, and called her
aloud by name. But lo! as he called, the image of her whom he sought
seemed to stand before him, only greater than she had been while she
was yet alive. And the spirit spake, saying, "Why art thou vainly
troubled? These things have not befallen us against the pleasure of
the Gods. The ruler of Olympus willeth not that Creüsa should bear
thee company in thy journey. For thou hast a long journey to take, and
many seas to cross, till thou come to the Hesperian shore, where
Lydian Tiber flows softly through a good land and a fertile. There
shalt thou have great prosperity, and take to thyself a wife of royal
race. Weep not then for Creüsa, whom thou lovest, nor think that I
shall be carried away to be a bond-slave to some Grecian woman. Such
fate befits not a daughter of Dardanus and daughter-in-law of Venus.
The mighty Mother of the Gods keepeth me in this land to serve her.
And now, farewell, and love the young Ascanius, even thy son and
mine."
So spake the spirit, and, when Æneas wept and would have spoken,
vanished out of his sight. Thrice he would have cast his arms about
her neck, and thrice the image mocked him, being thin as air and
fleeting as a dream. Then, the night being now spent, he sought his
comrades, and found with much joy and wonder that a great company of
men and women were gathered together, and were willing, all of them,
to follow him whithersoever he went. And now the morning star rose
over Mount Ida, and Æneas, seeing that the Greeks held the city, and
that there was no longer any hope of succour, went his way to the
mountains, taking with him his father.